I’d like to begin by reflecting on my experience at recent Rotary meetings.
As you are all aware, our club members are predominantly male.
For one moment, I’d like you all to put yourselves in my position.
Imagine how you would you feel if you were the only male at the meeting, surrounded
by 15 to 20 females?
All jokes aside, I would think you’d feel a little uncomfortable and possibly intimidated.
I no longer want to feel as I did when I was one of the only female swimming coaches on pool deck at State &
National competitions, at which the male coaches chose to intimidate in various ways.
My role and responsibility as President and leader of this club is to ensure that all members feel welcome,
comfortable, cared for, valued and respected.
I encourage you all to start sitting next to people you may not know very well, engage in conversation, learn
more about them and share your positive Rotary experiences.
I intend to lead the club in a positive and more vibrant direction, engaging members in activities and projects
of their choice and passion. I’d like everyone to feel eager and happy to attend meetings; think about and
share new ideas.
I want to include partners, family and our Friends of Rotary in our activities and meetings.
I’d like everyone to leave our meetings feeling energised, enthusiastic, keen to take on new challenges.
I encourage all members to set up a My Rotary account if you don’t already have one. Check out
the Learning Centre and familiarise yourselves with the courses available, which are there to enhance our
Rotary knowledge and experience.
We are ‘Rotarians’, people of action and keen to make a difference by putting service and others above self.
Rotary is changing as we move forward and we all have to accept this for the health and well-being of our club
and for our members.
At future meetings I intend to wear the Presidents collar with pride, stand tall, introduce change and build
morale. I’d like to have the opportunity to ‘do it my way’ as all Presidents should have the right to do.
‘Imagine’ our club moving forward in a more inclusive and harmonious way. Let’s be the club which other
Rotarians would want to join and a club which is attractive to prospective new members.
On a final note, it is my belief that COVID has had a huge impact on the dynamics of not only us
Club, but in all areas of society. After all, we didn’t have the ability to socialise or interact with others due
to all he lockdowns. Zoom became our way of communicating from the little boxes on our computer screens.
It’s now time to pick up the pieces and get back to where we were pre COVID! Let’s work together to make a
difference.
44th. Annual Tournament Hobart Mar.27th. to April 1st.
The AGFR https://agfr.org/ is one of the over one hundred Rotary Fellowships which bring together Rotarians, and their partners, to share a common passion, make new friends, enhance the Rotary experience and enjoy fellowship.
One of the founders of the AGFR was Murray Guille, a member of the Rotary Club of Dandenong.
There were six representatives from our Rotary Club, Gus and Greta DeHoogd, John Heathcote and his partner Glenys Davis and Lois and me and our District 9820 was well represented with twenty two participants.
This year the AGFR was hosted by the Rotary Clubs of Claremont and Glenorchy and the golf was held at Claremont Golf Club in Hobart.
The event started with registration, a barbecue and fellowship on Sunday 27th. with lots of catching up with friends from previous tournaments.
Then four rounds of golf for the Rotarians (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) and three for the partners (no golf on Friday). The non-golfing partners were well looked after with bus tours each day to various Hobart attractions.
On the Monday night we visited Government House and were hosted for drinks and finger food by Her Excellency The Honourable Barbara Baker and her husband Emeritus Professor Don Chalmers. They were both extremely friendly and happily chatted to most of the AGFR attendees. We were given the opportunity to wander through the magnificent building and the gardens.
Tuesday night was a Rotary makeup dinner and we had Rob Pennicott the founder of Pennicott tours as Guest Speaker. He is a passionate promoter for Tasmania and had many humorous and interesting stories to tell about his journey with his company.
On the Wednesday rest day fourteen of us caught the ferry to Bruny Island and spent the day enjoying the fresh local food, particularly the dozens of freshly shucked oysters for morning tea, and celebrated Gus’s birthday at the .
Friday night was presentation night held in the Ricky Ponting Room at Blundstone Arena. You may have already noticed there is not much mention of golf as our scoring wasn’t anything special and therefore we only went to the night for the food and drink.
Overall it was a terrific week and everybody had a great time of fun, fellowship and average golf.
Next year the AGFR will be hosted by the Rotary Club of Merimbula and will be held at The Tura Beach Country Club from Sunday March 26th. to Friday March 31st. It is sure to be another enjoyable event and the organiser, Past RI Zone 8 Director Noel Trevaskis, suggests we book early as accommodation at that time could be difficult to obtain and there is a cap at one hundred golfers as all golfers will be in carts and there are only fifty carts.
The All Holden Car Show 2022 was an OUTSTANDING SUCCESS!
Sunday 3rd April. The Teams gathered in the pre-dawn at the Dandenong Showgrounds at 6.00am to get their final instructions from Captain Marty, before setting out bins, and other things, and following their Team Captains to their various posts. One vendor and several cars were already there, well before opening time.
A misty drizzle swept across us, causing concern for the effect on numbers of entrants and patrons, but we needn’t have worried. The vendors arrived as arranged and such was the pent-up thirst for the event that entrants started pouring in, with several hundred exotic cars in the competition and show categories on display. Once the patrons started arriving, the Gate and Parking Teams were kept busy keeping up. With the welcome assistance of Rotarians from Berwick, Belgrave (yes, that is right) and Cranbourne, everyone performed magnificently, to ensure that the event ran smoothly.
It was great to see the food and collectables vendors doing good business. Several I spoke to reported that they had struggled to survive during the Covid lockdowns and were glad to have an opportunity to start on the road to recovery. Shannons, our major sponsor, reported doing satisfactory business, which was great, and Cleanaway’s generous provision of waste bins was most appreciated.
Thanks must go to EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED, Members, Partners, John Ternel and his Judges and, of course, our assisting Clubs (who will receive a share of the proceeds. But the biggest accolade must go to Marty Pater. He pushed through the doubts, organised many aspects of the event and had many sleepless nights as he dealt with the many issues which arose in organising such a complex, but overwhelmingly successful (on many levels) event in uncertain times. Brilliant Marty!
A special recognition night was held to thank all the Community support that helped us complete our Community Garden and shelter project for the Cornerstone homeless and disadvantaged community this week. A big thanks to the builders, electricians, concreters, project managers, Cornerstone helpers, Bunnings, the Endeavour Hills Men's Shed, Rotarians and many others who donated their labour, materials, resources and time to complete the project. A big thanks to Terry Valentine, Kam Pow and Neil Fullard.
It's amazing what a community can do. If you would be interested in helping Cornerstone, please contact us.
Our Friend of Rotary, Mel, has been busy coding up playgrounds to be harvested, with one completed recently. Additionally, we will be given the contract to remove a playground from Sandhurst in the next few months. The Management were excited to learn about this Project because “it ticks all their boxes”, particularly with regard to the environmental aspects of its removal and disposal. The playground is quite “upmarket” and is less than 15 years old.
The official opening of the new multi-purpose sports courts at St James Church will take place from 1.00am to 1.00pm on 30 April and everyone is welcome to attend. The Club has joined others in converting a slightly derelict court into one which can be used safely by various youth groups, giving them a place to belong to and worthwhile physical activities to occupy themselves with.
Club Revisioning
The sub-committee, led by David Langworthy, is about to finalise a thorough review of the Club, which will be presented at an upcoming Meeting. It will challenge some Members, as it is intended to do, because it will recommend innovations to set the Club up for a future which will look somewhat different to what it is today.
Club Communications
Colin has been doing work in the background to change the Way the Club communicates with Members and others. Despite its simplicity, too many Members are not using Team App, not RSVPing for Meetings, not attending Meetings and are not engaging with fellow Members or involving themselves in the work of the Club. In part, that is a reason for the Club Revisioning.
Colin, with the assistance of David Button from Berwick, has taken on the task of changing to a different electronic media platform, namely Club Runner, and maintaining it. Expect to learn more about this in the near future, but you will only do so if you attend Meetings. Otherwise, you will be left behind.
The Club plans to organize a raffle on Tuesday 26th April. All proceeds to End Polio
Join with Rotary to promote the power of vaccines to protect children and save lives
During World Immunization Week, 24-30 April, let’s advocate for polio eradication and the importance of vaccines to the health and well-being of our communities.
Vaccines are one of the greatest advances of modern medicine. They’re safe, effective, and save millions of lives each year. Our progress in the fight to end polio is proof that vaccines work.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative estimates that the polio vaccine has saved more than 20 million children around the world from paralysis. We need to continue vaccinating children against polio, because as long as the poliovirus circulates anywhere, it is a threat everywhere.
Here’s how you can support Rotary’s efforts during World Immunization Week:
§ Use the World Immunization Week Toolkitfor graphics and sample posts to share on social media with the hashtags #EndPolio and #VaccinesWork.
§ Donate to PolioPlus to help Rotary and our partners deliver polio vaccines to vulnerable children. Or start an online fundraiser using Raise for Rotary and share it with your friends, colleagues, and family members. All contributions will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Rotary districts can give District Designated Funds (DDF) to PolioPlus to help meet our goal of raising $50 million each year to eradicate polio.
